2015 Brands Go Back to the Future

2015 Brands Go Back to the Future

Today is October 21, 2015 – the day that Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) flash forward to in the classic movie “Back to the Future, Part II.” The movie was released nearly 26 years ago, and since then has enamored kids and adults alike with its outlandish predictions for the year 2015. When Marty and Doc arrive in transformed Hill Valley, the Chicago Cubs have won the World Series, cars can fly, hoverboards are gracing the city streets and Perrier sparkling water is considered an “antique.”

So, how does the technology portrayed in BTTFII compare to the 2015 we know? Here’s a look at what the movie got right, and how some brands today are capitalizing on the anniversary of this Hollywood classic:

Jaws 19

Although the last Jaws movie was released in 1987 (prior to BTTFII) the movie predicts that there will be Jaws 19, parodying Hollywood’s obsession with long-running franchises. To celebrate, Universal has released a fake trailer for Jaws 19, including mention of Jaws 17: Fifty Scales of Grey.

USA Today

The newspaper marked the date by creating a replica of the front page shown in the movie for Thursday, October 22. Just as in the movie, the headline reads “Youth Jailed: Martin McFly Junior Arrested for Theft.” The copy in the prop version used for the movie consisted of the same portions of text repeated, so the writers at USA Today used their imagination to create the content of tomorrow’s edition based on headlines.

Video Calls

After dinner with his family, Marty receives a video call from his co-worker to his living room television. At the time this idea may have seemed crazy, but we’ve now got video services such as FaceTime and Skype at the touch of our fingers. Here at CLS, we use video conferencing on a daily basis to communicate with team members and clients.

”Pepsi Perfect”

Pepsi Perfect is Marty’s soda of choice in the movie, an early example of product placement. Back then, Pepsi simply donated Pepsi for the cast and crew on set to get the drink on-screen – unheard of in today’s film industry. In honor of today, Pepsi has created 6500 limited edition bottles of Pepsi Perfect, which will sell for $20.15 per bottle. The soda company has also created a commercial “promoting” the product, released earlier this month.

Video/Phone Glasses

While eating dinner with his family, Marty wore a pair of JVC video glasses that he uses to answer and speak on the phone. This may sound familiar - Google released “Google Glass” to developers in 2013. Google Glass displays information in a smartphone-like (but hands free) way, not unlike Marty’s stylish shades in the movie.

We can’t wait to see how technology will advance in 26 years– maybe we’ll have flying cars, as the movie predicted. Don’t forget to celebrate the day by watching “Back to the Future, Part II” and drinking Pepsi Perfect!